The Irish Hockey Association (IHA; Irish: Cumann Haca na hÉireann) is the governing body for the game of (field) hockey throughout the island of Ireland. The IHA was formed in 2000 by the merger of the (men's) Irish Hockey Union (founded 1886) and the Irish Ladies Hockey Union (founded 1894). This followed a 1998 decision of the International Hockey Federation to affiliate only one association per nation.
The Association has eight affiliated Branches that govern the sport at regional level. The five women's hockey Branches are Leinster, Munster, Connacht, Ulster and South East, with three men's hockey Branches existing in the form of Leinster, Munster and Ulster. Plans exist to merge the men's and women's branches to mirror the National merger.
168 clubs and 280 schools are affiliated to the IHA through membership of the regional unions.
Famous quotes containing the words irish and/or association:
“I was the rector’s son, born to the anglican order,
Banned for ever from the candles of the Irish poor;
The Chichesters knelt in marble at the end of a transept
With ruffs about their necks, their portion sure.”
—Louis MacNeice (1907–1963)
“An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a vestry.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)